The Ethnographic Representation Of Landscapes

Anna Wieckowska

Student ID - M00497093

“Landscape is a social product; particular landscapes tell us something about cultural histories and attitudes” (Wells, 2001, p.1). Critically discuss this idea with reference to the photographic representation of landscapes, focusing either on tourism and travel, or on environmental photography.

For this particular essay, I decided to speak about my thoughts on the idea of landscape as a social product from a tourism and travel approach. Firstly, I am going to discuss individual landscapes and how they represent cultural histories and attitudes. Secondly, I will explain briefly the development of cameras and how they have affected us in seeing Landscape as it's historical identity, by analysing two

The use of camera did not begun until the early seventeenth century, and it has been only accepted as an art form in 1864-1946 by Alfred Stieglitz who was determined to prove that photography was a medium of artistic expression that had the same effect as sculpture or a painting. By the late seventeenth century, the camera was used even by painters which shows us how much of an impact photography had back then. Photographs have the potential to record and capture more than just a pretty scene or subject, they allow us to see everything around us and emphasize something that we care about and share it with others. According to Wagner and Mikesell in Readings in Cultural Geography (1962) the development of cultural geography have five different themes, such as culture, culture area, cultural landscape, culture history and cultural ecology (Wegner and Mikesell Readings

For example, a painting by Pieter Bruegel “The Harvesters” 1565 (fig.1) who in this particular painting created a watershed in the history of Western art which overcomes the iconographic society and religion of earlier image of the seasons in favour of an ideal vision of landscape. This painting represents a field of wheat that has been cut in some places and stacked. In the foreground we can see a group of people having a picnic in the shade of a tree, while others continue to work. The greatness of the panorama across the composition explains Bruegel’s intensity tells us that he does not fully concentrates on the time of the year but on the atmosphere and transformation of the landscape itself, which brings us back to the historical side of landscape photography.

Pieter Bruegel “The Harvesters” 1565

Another photograph I will be focusing about is my Stephen Shore: Merced River, Yosemite National Park 1979 (Fig.2). I have particularly chosen this photograph, because this image makes no effort to disguise human presence. Instead, Shore presented how Yosemite Park became this place for relaxation, joy and happiness. Shore has chosen a very distant viewpoint to emphasize rather lifeless moment, which doesn't represent landscape as a social product, simply because we don't get to see many people or buildings that usually take up the whole space ruining the nature.

Fig.2

Stephen